Man arrested 40 times in five year span sentenced for firearm charges

Cedar Rapids - A man with a lengthy criminal history was sentenced last week to 15 years in federal prison for firearm charges.

Kendan Fonville, also known as 'Fudd,” 23, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded guilty last April to possessing a firearm as an unlawful drug user and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The plea agreement shows Fonville admitted that he illegally possessed a Bersa Thunder .380 caliber pistol in March 2012. He also admitted that he knew the pistol had an obliterated serial number and that he was an unlawful drug user at the time he had the pistol.

During last Thursday's sentencing, witnesses testified that in March 2012 Fonville assaulted a woman with a bottle, knocking her unconscious, and then shot rounds into the air from an AK-47 assault rifle in the middle of the street on the southeast side of Cedar Rapids.

According to sentencing documents, Fonville denied he had the AK-47 and to shooting it in 2012.

Evidence during the sentencing also showed that Fonville severely beat another inmate in November 2014 while his trial was pending.

Court records show Fonville has 30 previous convictions, including 11 for assault, 6 for interference with official acts, as well as public intoxication, trespassing, criminal mischief and theft. In all, he was arrested 40 times between 2009 and 2014.

Fonville also had numerous run-ins with police involving firearms, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. In 2011, he pointed a handgun at a man during a dispute, and struck the man's girlfriend in the face. In other incidents, Fonville was seen pointing a firearm at others, or found in a vehicle in which police recovered firearms, according to prosecutors.

In 2014, Fonville was shot by someone during a dispute but he refused to cooperate with police about the shooting, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade at sentencing noted Fonville's violent past, the seriousness of the federal crimes and found he 'poses a substantial risk of danger to the public.”

U.S. Attorney Kevin Techau said after sentencing that 'targeting violent criminals” for federal investigation while working with state and local law enforcement is a priority of the office.

'This case is a good example of how this kind of partnership makes a difference,” Techau said. 'The individual sentenced is a very violent person. His record speaks for itself.”

Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman said he was grateful to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the federal law enforcement partners for helping to make Cedar Rapids a safer community by pursuing firearm crimes.